👋🏻 Hello Highlands Families!

The SME feeder mascots participated in the Prairie Village Holiday Tree Lighting on Thursday. What a fun night! It's great to be a Highlands Hawk.

❄️ 🛍️ PTA Holiday Shop: This week in the Science Lab: Tuesday @ 11:00-Friday @ 1:00. Classes will go during the school day throughout the week and the shop is also open before and after school. Proceeds go to next year's 6th grade graduation festivities.

🧤🧣 District Recess Guidelines: All students are expected to participate in outdoor play activities and should be sent to school properly clothed for prevailing weather. Students will not be sent outdoors in severe weather. There will be no outdoor recess when:

• The temperature is 15 degrees or below.
• The wind chill index is 0 degrees or below.
• There is falling moisture.

📌 Highlands November Chronic Absenteeism Rate: Both Highlands and SMSD have a goal of reducing the chronic absenteeism rate. If students are not at school, they are not learning. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days (excused or unexcused absences). The Highlands chronic absenteeism rate will be communicated each month via newsletter.

• All School Chronic Absenteeism Rate: 9.8% (absent at least 7 school days out 69 so far this year)
• Pre-K: 7.5%
• Kindergarten: 10.3%
• 1st Grade: 5.0%
• 2nd Grade: 10.8%
• 3rd Grade: 10.3%
• 4th Grade: 6.6%
• 5th Grade: 6.0%
• 6th Grade: 16.7%

Laura LaHue

Principal

https://highlands.smsd.org/

Theme: Forever Young

Buy Tickets: http://Highlands.Auction

We Need Your Help: See below.

The Highlands Holiday Shop is coming back! The Holiday Shop is a longtime Highlands tradition that was paused in 2020, and we are beyond thrilled to be reopening this December! This event has always been a favorite among the Highlands students. The shop is set up for the children to come through and pick out special gifts for family and friends, wrap and label the gifts, and then bring them home ready to give this holiday season! The shop offers a safe way for the children to shop for their adults without their adults knowing what they pick out, as well as being an opportunity to learn about budgeting their money! There will be a variety of items available (ex. #1 Teacher pens, stuffed animals, Best Aunt coffee mug, games, toys, etc.), at a variety of price points ($1.00+).

Proceeds from this year’s shop will go towards 6th grade graduation festivities. Teachers will bring classes to the shop at scheduled times throughout the week; it will also be open before and after school.

Where: The Highlands Science Lab (2nd floor)

When: 11am Monday 12/4 - 1pm Friday 12/8

Please look for more information in your student’s backpack, as well as a sign up to volunteer in the shop!

Highlands is so incredibly lucky to have such a phenomenal special education team. Thank you to each member of this department for providing what is needed in order for ALL students to receive an equitable educational experience and the support that is needed to access grade level curriculum. 👏🏼 🎉

HI WIG #1: Implement a system-wide monitoring process that utilizes collaborative instructional teams who meet regularly to review student data from screening, progress monitoring, and common formative assessments (CFAs) to identify next steps for instruction.

• ✅ Lead Measures (to get us there):
• Intentional Core Instruction: Students are doing the talking (thinking); teachers are asking questions to encourage students to think and generalize what they know to new situations.
• Intentional Core Instruction: Teacher teams will use information from CFAs and real-time observations during core instruction to strategically target skills that will accelerate achievement
• Educational Equity: How will we get EVERY student there? A collective responsibility to provide students with what they need, when they need it, and with an urgency to master essential outcomes.
• IXL: students will engage in personalized learning plans using the IXL app to master skills for each priority standard with an 80% proficiency in both ELA and Math.
  

HI WIG #2: Prioritize social/emotional personalized learning through explicit instruction, modeling, classroom norms, school rituals/routines, and caring attention.

• ✅ Lead Measures (to get us there):
• Student absenteeism: monitor student absenteeism and create a plan to help students be at school consistently. Students that miss 10% of school days are defined as chronically absent.
• Mindful Mornings: Each morning from 8:00-8:30 will be a time for face-to-face (device-free) connection and friendship. Students know they can softly enter their school day.
• Schoolwide system of mentorship: all-school mindful mornings each month, Hawks Nests each month, classroom buddies, and 6th grade jobs.
• Positive behavior system: of grace and accountability through our PBIS and BIST programs.